Key Democrat blasts ‘abrupt’ end of popular US tariff exemption for package shipments

The top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee accused the Trump administration of having inadequate customs procedures in place as it ended the “de minimis” U.S. tariff exemption for packages valued below $800, leading to severe disruptions in mail shipments to U.S. shoppers and small businesses. Senator Ron Wyden in a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick seen by Reuters requested answers on how the department concluded that adequate systems were in place to collect duties on low-value packages as the exemption ended on August 29. Wyden, one of the Democratic Party’s most influential voices on tax and trade…